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1947-2014 (Archived)

These two articles emanate from an earlier, initial story coming from Bernama.com.
The threat is "real" according to authorities, but Malaysia is still waiting for details as of July 30. Wanted Sikh terrorists may not even be in Malasyia. Hishammudin puts the story in the larger context of international terrorism and new safeguards on Malaysian immigration policies.

Article 1.

`Sikh group threat real’

0 Comments | New Straits Times, Jul 30, 2010 | by Sulaiman Jaafar

TUMPAT: Malaysia is working with Interpol and the Indian authorities to check on the activities of Sikh separatist group Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), which was said to have set up base in the country.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the threat of the militant group was real but not necessarily on Malaysian soil.

“We monitor all militant groups in Malaysia. In this context, we are waiting for the necessary details from the Indian authorities and Interpol.

“We might be a transit point and might also be the destination. However, I am not in a position to disclose the details at the moment,” he said after presenting citizenship documents to 89 people from the Thai community at the Pikunthong Wawaran temple at Terbak here yesterday.

A Bernama report on Wednesday quoted Punjab police in India as saying that four KLF militants were hiding and canvassing for support in Malaysia.

Hishammuddin said the presence of the group showed that terrorism was not exclusive to any race or religion.

On another issue, Hishammuddin said the government had introduced a point system when considering entry permit applications as practised in Australia, Canada and Britain.

He said the system would be used for foreigners who would get special entry consideration — spouses to Malaysians, specialists and highly-skilled professionals, and investors who invested more than US$3 million (RM9.5 million).

Under the point system, applications were considered based on points given to various factors including age, academic qualifications and relationship with Malaysian citizens.

Applicants who obtained 65 points and above would be considered. However, all applications are subjected to security vetting by the police.

Hishammuddin also said the director of Immigration had been given the responsibility to consider applications for all forms of entry permits

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1947-2014 (Archived)

August 1 Malaysian authorities are still waiting for specifics from Punjab.

Cops waiting for official request to track down Sikh militants

KUALA LUMPUR: The police are waiting for an official request from their Punjab counterpart to track down four suspected Sikh militants said to be hiding in Malaysia.

Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan said it was waiting for word from New Delhi and would cooperate with Indian authorities to address the militancy problem.

"They (Punjab police ) should make an official request so that action can be taken according to the law. The type of action will depend on the situation and offences committed. We have to follow international law," he told Bernama when contacted today.

Musa said police would not compromise and take stern action based on the law to check militancy as it could harm national security.

He was commenting on a statement by Patiala police chief Senior Supt Ranbir Singh Khatra from New Delhi that Punjab police would use diplomatic channels to get cooperation of the Malaysian government to track down the suspects.

Based on intellIgence inputs, three of the suspected Sikh militants, Harminder Singh,45, Daljit Singh and Harpreet Singh, both in their 20s, all of whom are from Punjab state are believed to be hiding in Malaysia.

There are no details of the fourth suspect.

Punjab police claimed that Khalistan Liberation Force, a violent Sikh separatist group, had set up base outside Kuala Lumpur and that four of its mmebers are hiding in the count

New Delhi, Aug.2 (ANI): Punjab Police have warned Sikh militants not to use Malaysia as a base to launch terror strikes on India or, to destabilise the October Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Malaysia’s New Strait Times daily quoted Patiala’s Senior Superintendent of Police, Ranbir Singh Khatra, as saying: “They (militants) cannot ”remote-control” from Malaysia. We are constantly gathering information on them. We are on our heels and constantly alert all the time.”

“(On our part) we will use diplomatic channels to detain at least four suspected Sikh militants who are allegedly hiding in Malaysia. We thank the Malaysian government. We respect Malaysia as a sovereign state and so we need to channel our investigations through our ministry (of external affairs),” he added.

“We hope the Malaysian government will cooperate with us to fight terrorism,” he said in an interview.

Khatra was responding to media reports that the Malaysian government had acknowledged that several Sikh militants, allegedly having links with the once-lethal Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), could possibly be in the country.

Based on intelligence input, he revealed that three of the suspected Sikh militants, Harminder Singh, 45, Daljit Singh and Harpreet Singh, both in their 20s, all of whom are from Punjab, were believed to be still in hiding in Malaysia.

There are no details of the fourth suspect.

To a question why the outlawed terrorist outfit had chosen Malaysia as their base, Khatra replied: “Malaysia and Thailand are international tourist places and they can enter these countries freely. From there, they can easily move to Pakistan.”

Indian security agencies have been on high alert, following the arrest of Pargat Singh, a suspected KLF militant and bomb-planting specialist, who had stayed in Malaysia for almost a year, and the discovery of 15kg of RDX explosives from another Sikh militant last month.

Since the 1980s, the Sikh militant group has waged an armed struggle to form a separate homeland for Sikhs in Punjab.

But in the 1990s, the Punjab police annihilated most of its top hardliner leaders, forcing the organisation to break up into smaller groups and operate from foreign soil. (ANI)

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1947-2014 (Archived)

Kuala Lumpur, July 29 : The Malaysian government has denied a report from India that a Sikh militant group has set up a base outside the national capital and that at least four militants were hiding there.

There is no evidence to support a claim by the Punjab Police that the Sikh separatist group Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) has set up base outside Kuala Lumpur, a senior police officer said Wednesday.

"We can confirm there is no such group based here," Federal Special Task Force (Operations and Counter Terror ism) department director Commissioner Mohamed Fuzi Harun said in a press statement.

He added the police kept close contact with their counterparts throughout the world to monitor militant activities, The Star reported.

Malaysia is home to 100,000 Sikhs who are part of a larger 1.7 million strong Indian diaspora.

A media report from New Delhi Wednesday stated that Punjab Police believed KLF had set up base outside Kuala Lumpur with at least four of its members hiding in Malaysia.

Information on the KLF base in Malaysia was obtained following the arrest of a suspected militant in Punjab Monday.

Intelligence agencies suspect that Sikh militants based outside Punjab are preparing to create mayhem in New Delhi before the Commonwealth Games in October, the report from India said.

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